Old Photos, New Pictures

Old Photos, New Pictures

[imagebrowser id=108] There are bold choices that an artist must contend with and it’s this idea of always being one step ahead to create the NEW. But in some cases, if the artist can transcend the very idea of referencing the past with the intention to bring something new to the table then it’s an entirely different ballgame.

Arte Fuse attended the reception for Jenna Lash last April 4, 2012 at Synchronicity Fine Arts that showcased new paintings for “A Family Album”. In her previous “Currency” series, Lash employed the pointillism technique of George Seurat to meticulously plot intricate patterns that resulted into clever images of international currency. For the past two years or so, this was her benchmark collection that became a signature and coveted by her collectors. Upon looking at her current oeuvre, it is clear that Lash has abandoned this application and moved on in a totally different direction while investigating her genealogy through vintage photographs of family and relatives.

The remarkable difference is apparent in the color palette, which is now bolder with the passionate reds, radiant yellows, deep cobalt blues, and the dark background of black on some pieces signified a total departure. In actual vintage photos they come in black and white or sepia tone so this more saturated color scheme is a great contrast on an otherwise antiquated subject of ancestry. Lash also used this new approach as the answer to her self-exploration after the previous year filled with personal challenges and losses. It was ripe for her to abandon the technique she had gotten comfortable with and plunge head on in newer unexplored territory. In the current application of the portraits she created from the family album, Lash significantly enlarged the idea of plot pointillism but instead of the deftly applied dots, it now gives way to brick like shapes or broken glass shards that evoke a mosaic. Perhaps this is to indicate that the memories and investigation into the past gave her a stark introspection that made her piece together a refreshingly new picture about her ancestry.

With lots of family and friends in attendance, Lash presented a very personal yet balanced series of new paintings that is referential in subject but the technique is clearly innovative. This shows chutzpah with her adventurous journey into the past but coming up with something entirely brand spanking new that loudly spoke of her future as an artist.